Woman of the Hour

The film's storylines alternate between Rodney Alcala's crimes in different locations from 1971 to 1979 and Sheryl Bradshaw's life in 1978 Los Angeles which leads to the two meeting on The Dating Game. In 1977, Rodney photographs a woman on the plains of Wyoming. After he gets her to open up about a recent painful breakup, he strangles her unconscious, revives her, and then strangles her to death. In 1971, Charlie is a flight attendant moving into a new apartment in New York City. She sees Rodney taking photos across the street and asks him to help her move furniture into her apartment. After he helps her, Rodney assaults and kills Charlie. In 1978, Pennsylvania native Sheryl Bradshaw is a struggling actress attending auditions in Los Angeles. Her agent urges her to appear on television as a contestant on The Dating Game, saying it will raise her visibility in the industry. Although Sheryl thinks the show is shallow and lacks substance, she reluctantly agrees and goes to the studio to tape an episode. The show goes live, with the three bachelors hidden from Sheryl's view behind a partition. "Bachelor #3" is revealed to be Rodney. Laura, a member of the studio audience, recognizes Rodney as the man she saw with her friend, Alison, just before Alison was raped and murdered on the beach. She relates her suspicions about Bachelor #3 to her boyfriend, but he dismisses Laura's concerns, saying she could be mistaken and that producers likely vet contestants. She asks to speak to a producer, but a security guard purposefully misdirects her to a janitor instead. As the show goes on, Sheryl decides to go off-script, feeling the written questions she is supposed to ask the bachelors are sexist and insulting. Rodney, having made a better impression than Bachelors #1 and #2, is crowned the "winner", the prize being a weekend trip upstate to Carmel-by-the-Sea with Sheryl. After the taping, Rodney and Sheryl go out for drinks. He tries to ingratiate himself with her by showing familiarity with the plays she talks about, but when she playfully teases him, his mood changes, leaving her uncomfortable. When they leave the bar, Rodney insists on walking with Sheryl back to her car at the studio. He asks for her phone number and realizes she has given him a fake one. She tells him she has no interest in going on the date with him to Carmel, and he threatens her. Sheryl anxiously races to get inside her car and is nearly attacked by Rodney in the deserted parking lot. As a group of people exit the studio, Rodney walks away, and she escapes. The next day, Laura tries to report Rodney's appearance on the show to the police but is dismissed when she cannot name him or the officer she talked to after her friend was murdered. Some time after her Dating Game experience, Sheryl thanks her agent on the phone and leaves California. In early 1979, in San Gabriel, California, teenage runaway Amy lives on the streets and steals occasionally. Rodney spots her sitting under a staircase and claims he can help her launch a career as a model. She agrees to accompany him, and they drive to an isolated location in the desert. At sunset, Rodney proceeds to photograph Amy and then attacks her. Amy awakens in the desert after being bound, raped, and beaten as Rodney lies next to her, crying. Amy acts as if she is embarrassed by the situation and asks him to please not tell anyone what happened, to keep it a secret. When they stop at a gas station, she flees, and police arrive and arrest Rodney. A postscript states that Alcala was released on bail following his arrest while awaiting trial, during which he murdered another woman and a young girl. He was rearrested in July 1979 and was eventually found to have murdered at least seven women and girls, though the true number could be over a hundred. After 31 years behind bars, he had a chance of acquittal at trial, but an adult Amy showed up and testified against him. He would later die in prison.